A disassembly of the new MacBook Pro's Retina display has revealed Apple's impressive design for the high-resolution screen, featuring a glass-free front that allows the screen to be thinner than its predecessor.

The 15-inch Retina display on the new MacBook Pro was carefully taken apart by repair company iFixit, which declared the screen an "engineering marvel." In a unique change, the LCD screen is essentially the entire display assembly.

"Rather than sandwich an LCD panel between a back case and a piece of glass in front, Apple used the aluminum case itself as the frame for the LCD panel and used the LCD as the front glass," the solutions provider explained.

In this approach, Apple was able to pack in five times as many pixels into the new Retina display, all while making the screen a fraction of a millimeter thicker. Apple has also said the new screen reduces glare by 75 percent by removing the front glass.

As it did in its teardown of the full Retina display MacBook Pro computer, iFixit lamented that the Retina display itself is not suitable for repair by third-party companies such as itself.

"If anything in the display assembly breaks, you'll need to replace the whole thing," they said. "It will be more expensive than just replacing the LCD inside a regular MacBook Pro, but it will also make the choice (of whether to replace just LCD or entire display assembly) very easy."

The teardown also found that display hinges inside the MacBook Pro Retina display have cables routed through them, without any way of removing the cables. In previous MacBook Pro models, the cables were routed underneath cable retainers.

The new 720p high-definition FaceTime camera was also found to connect to the MacBook Pro with a Vimicro VC0358 USB camera interface integrated circuit. And a strip of 48 LED backlights at the bottom of the display illuminate the screen.

The teardown also discovered a laser-engraved internal use code etched onto the bottom of the screen for Apple's internal use.

The tone of this article is much more positive than the apparent opinion of the guy running that teardown at iFix-it, Kyle Wiens. He had this to say about it to Wired:

"The Retina MacBook is the least repairable laptop we’ve ever taken apart: Unlike the previous model, the display is fused to the glass, which means replacing the LCD requires buying an expensive display assembly. The RAM is now soldered to the logic board — making future memory upgrades impossible. And the battery is glued to the case, requiring customers to mail their laptop to Apple every so often for a $200 replacement. The design may well be comprised of “highly recyclable aluminum and glass” — but my friends in the electronics recycling industry tell me they have no way of recycling aluminum that has glass glued to it like Apple did with both this machine and the recent iPad.

The design pattern has serious consequences not only for consumers and the environment, but also for the tech industry as a whole."

The tone of this article is much more positive than the apparent opinion of the guy running that teardown at iFix-it, Kyle Wiens. He had this to say about it to Wired:

"The Retina MacBook is the least repairable laptop we’ve ever taken apart: Unlike the previous model, the display is fused to the glass, which means replacing the LCD requires buying an expensive display assembly. The RAM is now soldered to the logic board — making future memory upgrades impossible. And the battery is glued to the case, requiring customers to mail their laptop to Apple every so often for a $200 replacement. The design may well be comprised of “highly recyclable aluminum and glass” — but my friends in the electronics recycling industry tell me they have no way of recycling aluminum that has glass glued to it like Apple did with both this machine and the recent iPad.

The design pattern has serious consequences not only for consumers and the environment, but also for the tech industry as a whole."

The tone of this article is much more positive than the apparent opinion of the guy running that teardown at iFix-it, Kyle Wiens. He had this to say about it to Wired:

"The Retina MacBook is the least repairable laptop we’ve ever taken apart: Unlike the previous model, the display is fused to the glass, which means replacing the LCD requires buying an expensive display assembly. The RAM is now soldered to the logic board — making future memory upgrades impossible. And the battery is glued to the case, requiring customers to mail their laptop to Apple every so often for a $200 replacement. The design may well be comprised of “highly recyclable aluminum and glass” — but my friends in the electronics recycling industry tell me they have no way of recycling aluminum that has glass glued to it like Apple did with both this machine and the recent iPad.

The design pattern has serious consequences not only for consumers and the environment, but also for the tech industry as a whole."

That is not surprising IMHO. iFixit is is the same position as all those garages that were making a living fixing car engines back in the days when you could open the hood and recognize things. I recall the comments back then when the German manufacturers started sealing everything in under smooth black covers and many previously mechanical components became electronic and computer controlled.

In fact the first thing that occurred to me when AI showed the inside of the new MacBook Pro was it reminded me of looking under the hood of our Lexus or Mercedes heck even my Jeep. I used to adjust my air / fuel mixture and change the spark plugs myself twenty years ago. Now I take it to the dealership for a diagnostic. I never embarked on a 3000 mile drive without a bunch of spare parts then. Now I don't give it a thought. I don't miss the old days where cars are concerned to be honest, the reliability now is off the charts compared to then and Apple MacBook Pros are the computer equivalent of a BMW engine in this regard.

iFixit will need to adapt or stick with writing about PCs until they are no more in their current incarnation. Or perhaps I should simply say 'are no more'.Edited by digitalclips - 6/19/12 at 6:32am

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

The tone of this article is much more positive than the apparent opinion of the guy running that teardown at iFix-it, Kyle Wiens. He had this to say about it to Wired:

The cynic in me says that this is a guy who funds most of his projects from the revenue generated selling the tools to the DIYers who want to fix their iHardware themselves.

His revenue stream has dried up - and is likely to get worse.

Non upgradable RAM? CTO with 16GB up front. You cant go beyond 16GB, and - while expensive - its not a deal breaker.

Non replaceable screen? Cracked screens are a risk - but only time will tell if this is a genuine problem on the redesigned model(s). For most screen repairs it wasnt the LCD that was damaged, but the front glass. No front glass means ... more LCD damage or a fragile component removed from the scenario?

Nonremovable battery? This one concerns me a little. I am on my third MB battery since I bought my Early 08 MB ... but then again, those battery packs were known to have issues.

Recycling? OK, as part of a total lifecycle that is a concern but not now. That "glass" is an LCD. It is not LCD per se. You dont throw bare LCD panels out with your beer bottles for recycling. Metal recycling - even for electronics is a high temp smelting process where the metals liquify at different temps and get filtered (low tech analogy) off. If he means reuse, thats a different story, but recycling? Thats a furphy.

That is not surprising IMHO. iFixit is is the same position as all those garages that were making a living fixing car engines back in the days when you could open the hood and recognize things. I recall the comments back then when the German manufacturers started sealing everything in under smooth black covers and many previously mechanical components became electronic and computer controlled.
In fact the first thing that occurred to me when AI showed the inside of the new MacBook Pro was it reminded me of looking under the hood of our Lexus or Mercedes heck even my Jeep. I used to adjust my air / fuel mixture and change the spark plugs myself twenty years ago. Now I take it to the dealership for a diagnostic. I never embarked on a 3000 mile drive without a bunch of spare parts then. Now I don't give it a thought. I don't miss the old days where cars are concerned to be honest, the reliability now is off the charts compared to then and Apple MacBook Pros are the computer equivalent of a BMW engine in this regard.
iFixit will need to adapt or stick with writing about PCs until they are no more in their current incarnation. Or perhaps I should simply say 'are no more'.

But those changes in cars made them last longer and run more efficiently and reliably. But soldering RAM to the motherboard, making up their own SATA interface, and gluing the battery to the case does none of those things. All it does it allow them to make it marginally smaller and drives repair costs through the roof. Personally, I'd rather have a machine that's slightly thicker and maybe even slightly heavier that I can upgrade and don't have to pay Apple prices for RAM.

But those changes in cars made them last longer and run more efficiently and reliably. But soldering RAM to the motherboard, making up their own SATA interface, and gluing the battery to the case does none of those things. All it does it allow them to make it marginally smaller and drives repair costs through the roof. Personally, I'd rather have a machine that's slightly thicker and maybe even slightly heavier that I can upgrade and don't have to pay Apple prices for RAM.

The car analogy is flawed, we don't know the reliability of this new rMBP. Additionally, the advances in cars were made explicitly for reliability and or performance, while many changes in the rMBP are made to cheapen production, limit upgradability, and make it thinner. Thinner laptops are all well and good, but there is a huge market segment that cares more about expandability than an extra 2 mm of thinness, and Apple fails to meet our needs.

Isn't it funny that as Americans get fatter, their laptops get thinner?

The cynic in me says that this is a guy who funds most of his projects from the revenue generated selling the tools to the DIYers who want to fix their iHardware themselves.

His revenue stream has dried up - and is likely to get worse.

Bingo. The biggest thing that brings to the boys to his yard are those tools and the instructions. These guys are losing both on this laptop and if it is the wave of the future they are doing away like the dinosaurs and Apple will be the meteor/virus/whatever it was. Because these days, where Apple goes, everyone else follows eventually.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maltz

But those changes in cars made them last longer and run more efficiently and reliably. But soldering RAM to the motherboard, making up their own SATA interface, and gluing the battery to the case does none of those things.

this is a machine that is a week old so unless you want to tell us you are some kind of computer engineering genius savant and that's how you know what you are saying is true then time will tell.

The car analogy is flawed, we don't know the reliability of this new rMBP. Additionally, the advances in cars were made explicitly for reliability and or performance, while many changes in the rMBP are made to cheapen production, limit upgradability, and make it thinner. Thinner laptops are all well and good, but there is a huge market segment that cares more about expandability than an extra 2 mm of thinness, and Apple fails to meet our needs.

Isn't it funny that as Americans get fatter, their laptops get thinner?

Huge = Less than 5%

Not huge.

Like the 'enormous' number of people using Google+. Who are mostly just people who comment on tech blogs.

Here is the problem when you allow third party enhancements. If the product is covered by AppleCare or not, when someone has a problem, they call Apple. So, if the problem is faulty RAM or a Faulty drive, then the phone call to Apple is useless because they can't help the customer, yet it costs Apple money. The other issue is that in order for Apple to make these things thin, light and cost effective, they have to design it this way. Ultimately, third party service people should not be touching these things. They aren't factory trained and neither is the user base. If you buy the MacBookPro Retina, but the AppleCare Warranty support, make sure it has the max RAM and SSD you can afford or will most likely use and enjoy it. A maxed out model should last the typical user a good 3+ years. Yes, I know it is always interesting to pull things apart and put them back together and it is always an ego boost if you can add third party enhancements, but the reality is you probably don't need anything more than this, if you do, you should probably have a desktop.

I thnk iFixit rated this a 1/10 because they can't really sell you anything.

Originally Posted by Junkyard Dawg
Thinner laptops are all well and good, but there is a huge market segment that cares more about expandability than an extra 2 mm of thinness, and Apple fails to meet our needs.

You start off saying that we don't know the reliability of this machine.

Then you say that Apple has failed those that care about reliability with this machine.

sounds to me like the only thing that can be called a fail at this point is your logic

The tone of this article is much more positive than the apparent opinion of the guy running that teardown at iFix-it, Kyle Wiens. He had this to say about it to Wired:

"The Retina MacBook is the least repairable laptop we’ve ever taken apart: Unlike the previous model, the display is fused to the glass, which means replacing the LCD requires buying an expensive display assembly. The RAM is now soldered to the logic board — making future memory upgrades impossible. And the battery is glued to the case, requiring customers to mail their laptop to Apple every so often for a $200 replacement. The design may well be comprised of “highly recyclable aluminum and glass” — but my friends in the electronics recycling industry tell me they have no way of recycling aluminum that has glass glued to it like Apple did with both this machine and the recent iPad.

The design pattern has serious consequences not only for consumers and the environment, but also for the tech industry as a whole."

I'll take reliability over repairability any day. Better to build a system reliable enough that repairs aren't needed often than to build a crappy system that DIYers can fix like those that you obviously prefer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maltz

But those changes in cars made them last longer and run more efficiently and reliably. But soldering RAM to the motherboard, making up their own SATA interface, and gluing the battery to the case does none of those things. All it does it allow them to make it marginally smaller and drives repair costs through the roof. Personally, I'd rather have a machine that's slightly thicker and maybe even slightly heavier that I can upgrade and don't have to pay Apple prices for RAM.

Nonsense. Soldered RAM will be considerably more reliable than socketed RAM. First, there are probably half as many solder connections. Then you have the inherent unreliability of a DIMM socket which can work lose over time or during shipping. And, of course, many problems with DIY RAM upgrades were the use of crappy RAM which led to intermittent problems. A soldered RAM system, while not upgradeable and less flexible for the consumer offers significant advantage.

Gluing batteries to the case? Less components to come loose during shipping. Less chance of assembly error. Less chance of DIYers messing it up and ruining their system (there was a case not too long ago where a battery screw was misplaced and damaged a battery, causing a fire).

And Apple prices for RAM? You're living in the past. If you buy the older MBP with 8 GB and want to upgrade to 16, most places are charging around $160 for two 8 GB SO-DIMMs. And even then, you have to worry about whether the RAM is as good as Apple RAM. Apple charges $200 - which isn't out of line at all considering that you get a full factory warranty and don't have to muck about inside your computer.

Of course, if you don't like it, you're free to buy the older MBP or someone else's laptop.

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13

The car analogy is flawed, we don't know the reliability of this new rMBP. Additionally, the advances in cars were made explicitly for reliability and or performance, while many changes in the rMBP are made to cheapen production, limit upgradability, and make it thinner. Thinner laptops are all well and good, but there is a huge market segment that cares more about expandability than an extra 2 mm of thinness, and Apple fails to meet our needs.

Isn't it funny that as Americans get fatter, their laptops get thinner?

Funnier, is guys like you. their head gets bigger, their brains get smaller.

The tone of this article is much more positive than the apparent opinion of the guy running that teardown at iFix-it, Kyle Wiens. He had this to say about it to Wired:

"The Retina MacBook is the least repairable laptop we’ve ever taken apart: Unlike the previous model, the display is fused to the glass, which means replacing the LCD requires buying an expensive display assembly. The RAM is now soldered to the logic board — making future memory upgrades impossible. And the battery is glued to the case, requiring customers to mail their laptop to Apple every so often for a $200 replacement. The design may well be comprised of “highly recyclable aluminum and glass” — but my friends in the electronics recycling industry tell me they have no way of recycling aluminum that has glass glued to it like Apple did with both this machine and the recent iPad.

The design pattern has serious consequences not only for consumers and the environment, but also for the tech industry as a whole."

You would be angry too if a company that had been your bread and butter basically cut out your profit making ability. He's not saying it isn't an amazing machine. He's saying, "I can't profit from this amazing machine." However, the vast majority of buyers for the Mac with Retina display will never need iFixit's services, because Apple is one of the most generous companies when it comes to warranty repairs and AppleCare can keep you covered for a total of 3 years. Most people are already moving on to a new computer by that time. After 1000 cycles of that glued in battery it's still going to hold 80%. Do you have any idea how long it will take to cycle the battery 1000 times? I'm typing this on a not quite 3-year-old HP and the battery holds 0 charge. The second I unplug it the thing dies. If I had the money I'd buy this new Macbook Pro and wouldn't complain at all about the battery being glued in to allow it to be as thin and amazing as it is.

I'll take reliability over repairability any day. Better to build a system reliable enough that repairs aren't needed often than to build a crappy system that DIYers can fix like those that you obviously prefer.

LOL!!

Like the previous MacbookPro...

Do you remember Steve Jobs had this to say regarding Pro users:

"We don’t think design is just how it looks. We think design is how it works. And we labored a lot on this because our pro customers want accessibility. There’s a lot of great technology inside, but they want access to that technology. To add memory, to add cards, to add drives. And so we think we’ve got the most incredible access story in the business."

"We don’t think design is just how it looks. We think design is how it works. And we labored a lot on this because our pro customers want accessibility. There’s a lot of great technology inside, but they want access to that technology. To add memory, to add cards, to add drives. And so we think we’ve got the most incredible access story in the business."

I don't doubt that SJ said these exact words, but if I quoted someone I would put the date and publication or event where the quote was from. That certainly gives the inclusion of the quote more legitimacy.

But those changes in cars made them last longer and run more efficiently and reliably. But soldering RAM to the motherboard, making up their own SATA interface, and gluing the battery to the case does none of those things. All it does it allow them to make it marginally smaller and drives repair costs through the roof. Personally, I'd rather have a machine that's slightly thicker and maybe even slightly heavier that I can upgrade and don't have to pay Apple prices for RAM.

You're just making things up here and exaggerating rather wildly to prove your point. The battery isn't glued, they didn't "make up their own SATA interface" and soldering RAM to the motherboard actually does increase efficiency and reliability.

The number of people who upgrade even their desktop computer RAM or HD has already dropped to almost zero. Even less likely in a laptop.

I don't doubt that SJ said these exact words, but if I quoted someone I would put the date and publication or event where the quote was from. That certainly gives the inclusion of the quote more legitimacy.

He was talking specifically about the MacPro, not laptops.

Also, just because you have a laptop doesn't make you a "pro user," in fact it makes you a very average user indeed.

"We don’t think design is just how it looks. We think design is how it works. And we labored a lot on this because our pro customers want accessibility. There’s a lot of great technology inside, but they want access to that technology. To add memory, to add cards, to add drives. And so we think we’ve got the most incredible access story in the business."

A lot of the reviewers have FAILED to recognize what the significance of Apple's new manufacturing process really is: they've traded serviceability for weight and the cost of manufacture.

There is NO WAY Apple could have put a 15" Retina display and this much power into 4.5 lbs without doing away with most of the housings, connectors and screws.

The display has much less glare because the glass is closer together and this makes it impossible to have a separate unit. Same with the batteries and other parts.

Each connector adds a point of failure, a gap and would add to the size.

>> I personally would PREFER To have some serviceable parts -- especially hard drive, Battery, RAM, keyboard and screen -- but for 95% of the customers they are never going to mess with this.

Apple's selling point is a "flawless experience." This type of glued together manufacturing means better connections, less damage and it's probably a lot quicker to assemble than with screws. Having taken apart an iTouch to repair it -- It's also no damn fun for a gear head.

LOL!!
Like the previous MacbookPro...
Do you remember Steve Jobs had this to say regarding Pro users:"We don’t think design is just how it looks. We think design is how it works. And we labored a lot on this because our pro customers want accessibility. There’s a lot of great technology inside, but they want access to that technology. To add memory, to add cards, to add drives. And so we think we’ve got the most incredible access story in the business."

Clearly, when Jobs talked about accessing the technology (see the bolded), he's not talking about access to the internal components of the machine or ability to upgrade said components. Rather, he's clearly talking about access to the technology via applications and usability. His argument implies that pros want to USE the computer rather than having the computer get in the way.

So, to a very large degree, the lack of customer expandability in the MBP affirms what Jobs said rather than contradicts it.

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13

Why are you assuming that because the parts aren't screwed in that a lot of this computer ISN'T recyclable?

Apple does a lot of process research -- at least wait for the Green reviews to let us know if this device is actually a disaster or not.

A battery without a housing and screws isn't more or less toxic -- you just don't have a housing or screws to recycle. They could add some paper and wood and that would provide MORE recyclable materials -- but that doesn't change how much computer material ends up in a landfill which is the REAL issue.

But those changes in cars made them last longer and run more efficiently and reliably. But soldering RAM to the motherboard, making up their own SATA interface, and gluing the battery to the case does none of those things. All it does it allow them to make it marginally smaller and drives repair costs through the roof. Personally, I'd rather have a machine that's slightly thicker and maybe even slightly heavier that I can upgrade and don't have to pay Apple prices for RAM.

1) You don't think soldered RAM adds efficiency and reliability? Correct me if i"m wrong but only their machines with soldered RAM are capable of a 30 day standby time.

2) What SATA interface? You mean the mini-PCIe interface of the non-soldered custom SSD card that any vendor can design for the RMBP?

3) Glue has a long history of reliability. It's purpose is specifically to adhere items so how does not a battery flopping around inside a PC chassis help with reliability. I assume you expect it to be bolted down or wedged in place with some trap door that allows for easy access but all that makes it less reliable as things can break more easily and make it less efficient as less Whrs can be had for the total space.

4) If you want a machine that is thicker and has more replaceable components, which I assure you is not what consumer want, then why complain when they have updated the previous MBP. Is it because you want all the benefits of the new one without any of the cons or without considering how there are tradeoffs with all designs? I think so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Junkyard Dawg

Thinner laptops are all well and good, but there is a huge market segment that cares more about expandability than an extra 2 mm of thinness, and Apple fails to meet our needs.

What they are failing to meet is your elitist need for the flagship model to meet your specific needs. You know very well that they updated the old style MBPs but have completely ignored them in your post because they aren't the leading design type. If you don't feel those have ever met your needs then Apple is not a company you should be interested following.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregInPrague

I don't doubt that SJ said these exact words, but if I quoted someone I would put the date and publication or event where the quote was from. That certainly gives the inclusion of the quote more legitimacy.

I think he probably did state those specific words, but it doesn't address the point of design is how it works and that for the RMBP to work they had to do new things. It also doesn't address the context of those words. The article notes that the display and casing are marginally thicker than the previously model because of the effort needed to add 5x as many pixels. I can't recall ever spending an afternoon removing my display from its housing and can't imagine the normal customer doing so as well.

This bot has been removed from circulation due to a malfunctioning morality chip.

Congratulations. Your record of ALWAYS missing the point is intact.
Jobs made that comment with respect to the original iMac - which was not an expandable computer in the traditional sense, nor was it accessible in the sense that you are claiming.http://www.tnl.net/blog/2012/06/16/missing-steve-jobs/
Clearly, when Jobs talked about accessing the technology (see the bolded), he's not talking about access to the internal components of the machine or ability to upgrade said components. Rather, he's clearly talking about access to the technology via applications and usability.

Ummmm, no he isn't. You record of SOMETIMES ignoring inconvenient points is still intact. Just what does the sentence after your bolded one say? "To add memory, to add cards, to add drives." That ain't applications.

I don't doubt that SJ said these exact words, but if I quoted someone I would put the date and publication or event where the quote was from. That certainly gives the inclusion of the quote more legitimacy.

Especially since it seems to be about the Mac Pro and not the MacBook Pro.

Edit: via jragosta, it's about the 1999 iMac. That was a desktop machine with a handle on it that you could see through, with a CRT. A long time ago, and a very different machine, full of discrete parts, that you don't carry under your arm to the airport.

What they are after is a completly integrated, solid package with no moving or moveable parts, for max portability, like the iPad, only with one compromise, a physical keyboard that is covered by the screen.

Edit 2: At the 41 minute mark lin the video linked by Gatorguy, it's about the PowerMac G3, not the iMac.Edited by Flaneur - 6/19/12 at 8:35am

I don't doubt that SJ said these exact words, but if I quoted someone I would put the date and publication or event where the quote was from. That certainly gives the inclusion of the quote more legitimacy.

To be clear, I'm in no way qualified to pass judgement of whether this is a good, bad or indifferent move for typical Pro users. The iFix-it CEO, who probably is, made a reasoned argument why he felt it wasn't in the best interests of Pro customers. The tone of this AI article, which relied on comments from the iFix-it teardown, sounded as tho he felt it was a great move, contrary to his statements to Wired.

Apple does not have any duty to make iFixit's job any easier. If you want something that is easy to repair, buy a cheap pc laptop cobbled together from off the shelf parts. If you want state of the art, but a Mac.

Ummmm, no he isn't. You record of SOMETIMES ignoring inconvenient points is still intact. Just what does the sentence after your bolded one say? "To add memory, to add cards, to add drives." That ain't applications.

Come on! Why are you ignoring that his statement came from 13 years ago. Back then notebooks were not even close to being the most common machine. A lot has changed and there is little said about a desktop then that carries over to notebooks today. That was stated more than 2 years before the iPod even debuted. If Pros really cared about adding cards then they never would have taken to notebooks in the first place which makes that antiquated and out-of-context quote null and void.

This bot has been removed from circulation due to a malfunctioning morality chip.

I've seen most of NATGEO's Ultimate Factories series and all of the exotic cars featured uses GLUE to hold the aluminum body to its chassis. We are talking about 200mph Ferraris and Porsches here how much more for a retina MACs that just sits on your lap @ 0MPH most of the time.

But those changes in cars made them last longer and run more efficiently and reliably. But soldering RAM to the motherboard, making up their own SATA interface, and gluing the battery to the case does none of those things. All it does it allow them to make it marginally smaller and drives repair costs through the roof. Personally, I'd rather have a machine that's slightly thicker and maybe even slightly heavier that I can upgrade and don't have to pay Apple prices for RAM.

I remember my dad, a radio ham, not liking transistors at first, he liked being able to tinker with the valves and all that good stuff. My point is over time many things will morph into new forms with more integration. One day your Mac will only have a couple of discernible parts ...

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

With that said, wouldn't Steve Jobs general idea that Professional users have different needs and uses than typical consumer buyers still be appropriate, particularly to extend the life of your otherwise still functional and familiar device?